The Effect of Augmented Reality Applications on Secondary School Students’ Achievement of Atom Models and Theirs Attitudes

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of Augmented Reality (AR) applications, which are a new approach in education, on students' achievement and attitudes. For this purpose, on the basis of science education, a content, which was consistent with the syllabus, about atomic structure and atom models in the topic of structure and properties of matter was developed by the experts for the 7th grade students in secondary education and AR applications were integrated into the content. The Vuforia SDK software was used to design the content. The study was conducted on 205 secondary school students from six classes enrolled in a school in province of Gaziantep, in 2017-2018 academic year. Experimental group (n=103) and control group (n = 102) were randomly assigned. In this study, pretest-posttest with control group quasi-experimental design was used. The data of the study were collected using the achievement test, the Augmented Reality Applications Attitude Scale (ARAAS) and a semi-structured interview. The quantitative data were analyzed using t test while the qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the teaching method integrated with AR applications was a more successful method in promoting students' achievement of Atomic Structure and Atom Models compared to the traditional teaching method. In addition, students with a high level of interest in technology have been more successful in the tests than those with less interested. On the other hand, the data from the ARAAS applied to the experimental group indicated that student attitudes are positive, they are satisfied with using the AR, they do not carry concerns about use and they want to use them in different courses in the future. The experimental group students, through the semi-structured interview form, reported that the AR applications made significant contributions to the educational environment and the teaching process.